The Rebounder

by Thomas J. Dygard

Doug Fulton, coach of the Hamilton High Panthers, is certain that transfer student Chris Patton can lead the team to a championship, but a tragic accident has made Chris decide to never play basketball again.

Genres: Sports, Fiction

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 18, 1994

About the author

In His Own Words...

"I can't remember when I first started writing fiction. it was shortly after I began reading fiction, I'm sure.

"I've been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember. As a teenager, I read a lot of the same kinds of books I'm writing-the John R. Tunis sports stories, for example. I also read a lot of history when I was young-and I still do now. It's always fascinated me.

"When I was a high school senior, I was offered two jobs, both of the apprentice sort. One was in a commercial artist's studio, on a recommendation from my art teacher. The other was in the sports department of the local newspaper, following work on the school paper. I took the sportswriting job.

"For four years I worked for the Arkansas Gazette while attending the University of Arkansas, first at Little Rock and then at Fayetteville, covering football, baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, tennis-everything that made up the sports page. After graduation, I joined the Associated Press as a newsman at Little Rock and later worked in AP bureaus in Detroit, Birmingham, and New Orleans. Eventually, I was Chief of Bureau in Little Rock, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Tokyo, Japan. I retired from the Associated Press in 1993 and now live in Evansville, Indiana.

"For me, writing fiction is fun, relaxing, and satisfying-an enjoyable change of pace, a recharging of the batteries.

"My first young adult novel, Running Scared, got started one night in a motel room in Champaign, Illinois, when I had nothing else to do. Before long, the story had me in its grip. The creation of the thing was a fascinating experience. I liked the characters. I liked leading them through their problems to their triumphs. I kept going until one day it was finished.

"I did not set out to write for young people. Looking back, I think it was something of a blessing that 1 did not. As I wrote Running Scared, I imagined the reader as an adult, but after it was finished, it seemed more appropriate for young readers. The result, I think, was that the story did not talk down to teenagers. In every book I've written since, I've tried to keep the same approach."

Reviews

[Jay Bhinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, The Rebounder by Thomas J. Dygard is about a high school basketball team that is desperate to win a high school championship. Coach Fulton knew all the returning players on the team already. When school had started, a new student named Chris Patton had arrived. At first glance, he looked like an athlete. Everyone believed he would come to the basketball tryouts. Coach Fulton strongly believed he was the player they needed to win the championship. Tryout day came and everyone is expecting Chris to walk through the door. Tryouts had started and Chris didn't walk through the door. Everyone wanted to go to Chris and ask him why he didn't want to play, but coach always said no. Everyone wondered why coach always said no but he didn't want to explain himself. Eventually, in the middle of the season Chris had randomly decided to join the team. He did great and got the team rolling in wins. But then, Chris hit his head on the ground, and said he didn't want to play anymore.

The best part about the book in my opinion is when coach didn't tell anyone why Chris didn't play. That was good of him because he knew if he told everyone, it would just make matters worst. One part I really didn't like about the book was when Chris got hurt because I felt like it just dragged the story on. In my opinion it made it more boring. The author, Thomas J. Dygard is a children's book write who has wrote many good books for kids. He has always gotten good reviews on his books. I would recommend this book to kids no older than 17 because in my opinions, it wouldn't be interesting for them. Overall, I think this book is a great read.

[Gabriel Chavez · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting book good story.

[Ryan N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book, it had a very good story line where there is a struggling highschool team. There is a kid whom is 6 feet and 6 inches tall. We all knew he was going to join but we didn't know when so it created tension. The team was competing for the spoon valley conference championship. One I kind of disliked was that the team was so dominant after Chris joined. You love a underdog story that is exciting but in this they just lose one game at the start and blow everyone out except for some games. Other than that it was a very enjoyable book. It had a bit of drama, a good storyline, and basketball.

[Jamen H · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rebounder by thomas j dygard is a book about a high school basketball team that wants to win the state title. They already have some good players but then Chris comes to school and everyone thinks he is a really good basketball player but he doesn't show up to practice right away but when he joins he is really good.
The main summary is they wanted a state title but they didn't have good players but when Chris came they started to do good which I didn't really like about the book but before they played a state championship the book ended which made me mad as well.
I didn't really like the book mainly because i don't really like basketball and the ending sucked but i think that anyone else who liked books with basketball would've liked the book a lot more than i did

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good book about basketball but it did not have a lot of action. I just really talked about basketball.

[Joseph Chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is bueno

[Mavonsky Pelep]

i think this book was good to read

[Trevor L.]

I loved this book here is a summary

Chris Patton a 6 foot 6 person had this horrible fear that kept him from playing the he really loves. Chris is there best bet for winning the title if he can overcome the past. It’s the day of tryouts everybody is hoping to see Chris Patton walk through the door but he refused to tryout. The reason why he is such a great player is because he is big on the boards. The season has started with out him and the panthers went 2-1. With out Chris Alan Woodley is there star player. Finally Chris overcomes the past and joins the team. There next game is against the Bakersville Spartans. They beat them. Then in there next game Chris banged his head against the floor when he went on bench he told his coach he doesn’t want to play. The first game with out Chris they won 47-46. Can chris overcome his fear and come back to basketball. Read to find out.

[Ethan Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rebounder is a good book. Chris is my favorite character because he had concurred his gilt for what happened last time he played the sport of basketball. He had felt gilt because he injured a kid and the doctors thought that the kid was going to be blind for forever. He is my favorite character because he came to a new school like me, and we both kinda did the same thing. He watched a few games, I watched games, he wasn't sure if he should play or not but he wanted to. But after he watched a few he decided to play. I waited a season before I played for a different school. I feel like we had felt the same in a way, but I wasn't guilty of anything.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to read Dygard books as a kid so when I saw a few at a secondhand shop I picked them up. A pretty easy read, doesn't require a lot of brain cells, which is good sometimes. A superstar player is reluctant to play due to an unfortunate incident on the court the prior season. Now at a new school, the coach hopes he will be able to put the incident behind him as this will increase his winning chances. Not sure that it makes sense that a kid who is such a beast on the boards would be so fragile between the ears but I guess everyone's different. Also not sure if Coach Doug was sincere in his overtures to the young secretary or if he was just using her to access confidential files.

[Brendan Hillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris is a transfer student and gets spotted by the school basketball coach. The coach says that Chris moves like a basketball player, but Chris replies that he isn't a basketball player. The coach looks into Chris' past and finds out that Chris had a tragedy happen to him when he was playing the game. I rate it a five star because I think it can reach out to others of different genres. I think that because it is basically saying not to give up at something you're good at, or just not give up.

[Pam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Time has not been good to this story. It seems like an old-timey story even though it was written in '96. I thought it might be interesting because it was about basketball and I read it with an eye toward reluctant readers, but alas I fear they'd be turned off by the language and outdated tech. For once I'm proud of the public library system for having weeded out this book!

[Tyson Peoples · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was good. It's kinda funny , a person that the coach picked up describe me.! They had a good team , they were winning most of the games they played . It was a very good book .

My favorite part was . . . When the coach picked up a person that described me ... They charcter sounded like me .

I would recommend it to anybody that likes sports or someone who
like basketball !

[Carl Sivels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of cheesy but one of those books that is fun to read because it sort of ends on the typical high note. the young man in this book named chris is a basketball stud that eventually learns to overcome his promlems on the court through out this book in his ups and downs.

[Jack C.]

Realistic Fiction

Quarter 2

[Zach Logback · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new kid comes to town. He's very athletic but he doesn't want to play basketball. Why?

[Christopher Areia]

I like the book because i play it .